# Excel spreadsheets delete lines 13 & 14?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-spreadsheets-delete-lines-13-14/424814
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 1, 2007, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-spreadsheets-delete-lines-13-14/424814 "2007-11-01T01:54:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2007, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-spreadsheets-delete-lines-13-14/424814/1 "2007-11-01T01:54:42Z")
Almost every time I try and save an Excel document, the document saves, but lines 13 and 14 always vanish. Does anyone know what is happening?
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2007, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-spreadsheets-delete-lines-13-14/424814/2 "2007-11-01T02:16:40Z")
I think we need more details. That would be a very high-profile problem if it happened to everyone.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2007, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-spreadsheets-delete-lines-13-14/424814/3 "2007-11-01T02:19:07Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]
Almost every time I try and save an Excel document, the document saves, but lines 13 and 14 always vanish. Does anyone know what is happening?
[/QUOTE]
Is this happening only to one particular Excel document or any you create?
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### Author:  [@iwakura43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iwakura43)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2007, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-spreadsheets-delete-lines-13-14/424814/4 "2007-11-01T03:05:00Z")
Do they get deleted or are they just hidden? You can tell if they’re hidden because the row labels will go …10, 11, 12, 15, 16…)
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### Author:  [@j\_sum1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_sum1)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2007, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-spreadsheets-delete-lines-13-14/424814/5 "2007-11-01T09:20:36Z")
I’m guessing that you have picked up a macro virus somewhere.
Disable macros and see if the problem goes away.
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### Author:  [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2007, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-spreadsheets-delete-lines-13-14/424814/6 "2007-11-01T13:20:09Z")
It doesn’t happen every single time, but oftens say if I am saving a spreadsheet with detailed info in several columns say rows 1-50, I save it to desktop, reopen it, and everything is there, except rows 13 & 14, which have gone from being full of info to completely blank- the lines are there, just blank. I have no other computer issues of any kind so I don’t think its a virus, just this one glitch. I thought it may be a common excel problem or windows related problem.
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### Author:  [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2007, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-spreadsheets-delete-lines-13-14/424814/7 "2007-11-01T14:07:53Z")
Try saving it as a .csv, then open that up as a new spreadsheet and see if the problem persists. This will get rid of many kinds of “funkiness”.
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### Author:  [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-spreadsheets-delete-lines-13-14/424814/8 "2007-11-01T18:22:41Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]
I have no other computer issues of any kind so I don’t think its a virus, just this one glitch. I thought it may be a common excel problem or windows related problem.
[/QUOTE]
I just wanted to point out that’s exactly what a “macro virus” is. It wouldn’t affect anything else on your system, just Microsoft Office products (that allow macros). I would second the recommendation of disabling macros in Excel and see if that helps.
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-spreadsheets-delete-lines-13-14/424814/9 "2007-11-01T18:30:34Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]
I thought it may be a common excel problem or windows related problem.
[/QUOTE]
Wow, I had no idea Microsoft’s reputation was _that_ bad.
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### Author:  [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-spreadsheets-delete-lines-13-14/424814/10 "2007-11-01T18:38:30Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow]
Wow, I had no idea Microsoft’s reputation was _that_ bad.
[/QUOTE]
Huh? Did I use a wrong term?
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2007, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-spreadsheets-delete-lines-13-14/424814/11 "2007-11-01T18:44:02Z")
No, no. Just the thought that someone could think that such a potentially disastrous problem could be “common” is kind of funny. “Well, you know how crappy Microsoft’s stuff is … I bet _everyone_ has this problem!”
BTW, I second the macro virus theory, even if it’s not technically a virus. Have you gone through any macros associated with this document to make sure there isn’t a line in there to do this on purpose? When I worked for the bank, some folks would unwittingly repurpose spreadsheets (it was 1-2-3 back then, but still), not realizing that sometimes they did things without asking upon open or close. It’s worth checking.
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### Author:  [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2007, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excel-spreadsheets-delete-lines-13-14/424814/12 "2007-11-01T20:17:47Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow]
No, no. Just the thought that someone could think that such a potentially disastrous problem could be “common” is kind of funny. “Well, you know how crappy Microsoft’s stuff is … I bet _everyone_ has this problem!”
BTW, I second the macro virus theory, even if it’s not technically a virus. Have you gone through any macros associated with this document to make sure there isn’t a line in there to do this on purpose? When I worked for the bank, some folks would unwittingly repurpose spreadsheets (it was 1-2-3 back then, but still), not realizing that sometimes they did things without asking upon open or close. It’s worth checking.
[/QUOTE]
Unfortunaltey, my total knowledge of Excel is how to fill in or change lines on a spreadsheet someone else sent me 🙂 . I thought on the off chance it might something easy, but since its not, I’ll have to get someone who knows of them to assist. Thanks though.